Mahalo Outstanding Humans,
It’s a beautiful day to make the world a better place😊 My thoughts this past week have been on dignity. We seem to talk about respect (which is crazy important) a lot, yet dignity, which is just as important, is not mentioned as much.
What is dignity? Wikipedia defines dignity as “the right of a person to be valued and respected for their own sake, and to be treated ethically”. Dictionary.dot states dignity as “the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect”. Dignity is crazy important and a big deal not only in how we treat ourselves, yet in how we treat others. Every single solitary individual human being is worthy of being valued and respected no matter who they are or what they have done. And I know there are individuals in this world who have done horrific things. How we treat, interact, respond, and react with others is ALWAYS a reflection of how we feel about ourselves! It is not about what they have or have not done, it is about who we want to be as individuals.
Perhaps we need more dignity in this world❤️
In my work as a therapist/counselor I have the opportunity to get to know individuals in all walks of life. Many of whom have experienced all sorts of trauma, some of it pretty extreme . There are times the individuals I am counseling have caused the trauma to others. One of my unofficial “rules” when I counsel people is that no matter what we are talking about and what story they are sharing I have them sit as straight as possible and look me in the eye while we talk. No matter what they are telling me, which is often is crappy stuff, I will give them the respect, dignity, and honor of caring and not shaming them. That they “look me in the eye” helps them with their personal respect and dignity. My simple rule has major ripples for each and every individual. The only time I modify this rule is when I work with someone who has a diagnosis of aspergers, autism, or a developmental disorder where eye contact on a good day is difficult. We still work towards direct eye contact and posture, however it looks different for those individuals.
Next time you are having conversations in your life think about how you are saying what you are saying. How you are listening as others talk to you, especially for those people you do not like or care for. What kind of person do you want to be and are you willing to make some changes, pretty minor ones if you think about, direct eye contact and standing or sitting up straight, to improve your self respect and your dignity. When we make personal positive changes it causes ripples of good in all areas of our lives🎉
What if the positive changes you make for yourself inspires positive change for someone else? A sunny day touches many lives, we just don’t know about it☀️
My talk I am using today is a TED talk by Alberto Cairo titled “There are no scraps of men”. It is nineteen minutes of awesome💜⭐️
Take care of yourselves valued humans! Thank you for being you and all that you do❤️
